On NFL's get-tough policy

     [Bumping this back up today in the wake of the arrest of Dolphins DT Frederick Evans. Find the story here. Pretty serious allegations and charges. Dear Fred: What a dope. Evans faces a league suspension. Meantime, what if anything should Cam Cameron do?].

     The NFL's new personal conduct policy can mete out player suspensions (and has) based on serious or repeated run-ins with the law, even if those incidents might not result in an arrest or conviction.

     The poster-child for the crackdown is the Titans' Adam "Pacman" Jones; click here for his latest troubles.

     You know if you my recent column on the topic (found here) that I agree with the tough policy, but plenty of others say the league is overstepping its bounds. How do you weigh-in on the topic?

Comments

[biscayne pit bull]

Nice one GC. Cannot wait to see the first comment that starts: "Oh Pacman is just a nice young high spirited guy letting off steam. Give him a chance to show his heart is really good because he helps boy scouts across the road." Yeah right.

[Belichick, Mangini, Satan et al]

Even We would draw the line on him...

[Aloysious McGillicudy]

I'll tell you who wouldn't draw the line on him - the University of Miami! How the hell did scUM let Pacman slip through during the recruiting process? Oh well, they were probably #2 on his list.

[KristenBellFanClub.com]

where's al sharpton about the all the 'injustice' when thugs like this continue to be violent law-breaking self-indulgent, over-indulged thugs who get special treatment over and over and over and over.

All sports are now the corrupt armpits of our entire culture, right next to politics, churches and multi-national corporations -- all put profits before people and doing the right thing.

Time for scum like this to get booted after ONE strike. I'm sick of it and sick of all the excuses the OWNERS and players union make for their brother thugs.

[Dean]

Oh come'n Greggie, let me run at least with this blog's answers. You are too busy and I promise I'll be a good little typist..Please!!!!

[Kenny Dolfancane]

I AM GETTING SO SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING AND READING ABOUT THESE TROUBLED PLAYERS IN THE NFL. THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE PROFESSIONAL AND IT IS SUPPOSE TO BE A BUSINESS FIRST AND THENA GAME.

SOME PLAYERS LIKE ADAM PACMAN JONES IS TREATING THIS WONDERFUL SPORT LIKE A GAME AND HIS LIFE IS A GAME TOO.
AT FIRST YOU THINK MAYBE JONES IS BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY BY THE MEDIA DUE TO BEING IN THE NFL AS SOME MAY LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE. THOUGH AFTER REPEATED OFFENSES YOU KNOW THAT THE COMISH SHOULD CONTINUE HIS ONSLAUGHT OF WEEDING OUT PLAYERS WHO DO NOT TREAT THE NFL WITH RESPECT LIKE PIONEERS THAT MADE JONES RICH!EXAMPLE OF THIS WOULD BE DICK ANDERSON WHO CARRID HIMSELF PROFESSIONALLY IN AN ERA WHERE YOU DIDN'T MAE A LOT OF MONEY AND YOU STRIVED TO BECOME "PERFECT"

IS ANYONE TIRED OF JONES,VICK,TANK JOHNSON AND SO ON? LET US HOPE THAT GODDELL CAN CLEAN UP FOOTBALL AND NOT LET CERTAIN PLAYERS MAKE THIS SPORT LOOK LIKE A JOKE. FOR ALL THOSE WHO LOVE FOOTBALL(AND NOT JUST DURING THE PLAYOFFS), GO DOLPHINS AND CANES!

P.S. FOR ANYONE WHO SAYS UM IS THUG CITY, WELL SO IS FSU AND UF!

[Kenny Dolfancane]

LET'S ALL BE TRUE FANS OF SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS. GO DOLPHINS! GO CANES! GO MARLINS! GO HEAT! GO PANTHERS!

THE MARLINS NEED TO TRADE FOR A PLAYER WHO IS AN ALL STAR TO HELP THIS TEAM PUSH THROUGH. IF MIGUEL NEEDS TO LOSE WEIGHT TO HELP THE MARLINS(DON'T YOU JUST HATE IT WHEN ESPN SAYS "FISH" TO REFER TO EITHER PHINS OR MARLINS), THEN HE NEEDS TO LOSE WEIGHT. WHERE'S THE CONDITIONING COACH. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO BE A PROFESSIONAL?????
A PROFESSIONAL IN ANY OF THE NAMED SPORTS ABOVE???????????WHY DOES THE '85 BEARS GET RANKED ABOVE THE '72 DOLPHINS? OR THE '73 DOLPHINS? I KNOW WHY.

THE NFL IS BEING WATCHED BY MORE OF THE AGE GROUP OF 18-35 ANYMORE(SOME WOULD SAY 2-13)AND THEY ARE NOT TAUGHT THE GAME . ALL THESE NEW VIEWERS ARE TAUGHT IS TERREL OWENS AND UGLY JERSEYS OF THE N.E. PATSIES,BUFFALO JILLS, SEATTLE SEAGULLS, ATLANTA BIRDIES AND SO ON . OH AND THEY ARE TAUGHT THE STEELERS WERE THE BEST!

OH AND JIM BROWN IS GREAT (THOUGH THEY ASK THEMSELVES,DID HE PLAY IN THE '70S?)OH AND THEY SAY THE PATS ARE THE BEST AND THE SUPER BOWL SHOULD BE PLAYED FOR 60 MINS AFTER YOU PUT ON 16 HOURS OF PRE GAME GARBAGE!!!!

BACK TO THE MARLINS ...LET'S BE TRUE FANS OF THE TEAM(THAT GOES FOR THE DOLPHINS MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM)
I KNOW ITS HARD TO WHEN YOU SEE EVERY ALL STAR OF OUR PREVIOUS TEAMS ON EVERY ROSTER IN THE MLB! THOUGH LET'S START GOING TO THEIR GAMES! FURTHERMORE, WHY DO THE MARLINS LOSE 2 OUT OF 3 TO THE ROYALS AND THEN WIN 2 OUT OF 3 THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX? OH WELL, HURRY UP FOOTBALL !!!!!!!!!

[dean]

trying to figure out how lance rentzel and oj simpson would have fared in the brave, new nfl world?

[Thomas, Pompano Beach]

You can take the boy out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the boy. Not to sound too harsh, but that's what it comes down to in a lot of circumstances.

It's really a two fold problem; in the first place you have a lot of guys that come from very meager means, and when some of them get a lot of money thrown at them they have problems. Secondly, most of these same people have had their arses kissed their entire lives because they are such great athletes and people put them on such high pedestiles.

[Ty Wood]

The NFL should have gotten tough a long time ago. I do not know too many companies that would look favorably on employees who have repeated run-ins with the law.

The prevalance of criminal activity by players on NFL rosters should be an embarassment to the league as well as the teams and, from a business perspective, tarnishes the image of the brand.

The NFL should be a No Felon League.

If you act like a felon, associate with felons or engaged in anti-social, felonious or other inappropriate behaviors you do not belong in the NFL. Period.

[Rufus]

OJ was a model citizen when he played for the Bills.

He was only accused of a crime long after he retired.

[Mario]

Ever heard of innocent before PROVEN guilty? The new NFL facist society should be exposed as the heavy handed, hypocritical entity it is.

[OC Dolphin]

Back in the days of the Roman Empire, if a top athlete was really, really good, he got to live another day. More recently, during the Great Depression, a top fighter (if employed) would be able to bring food home to his family. Today huge sums of money are being poured into Mr./Ms. athlete's bank. Without strong management this era's athlete will increasingly run amok.

Money=Power........and:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887).

[the shadow knows]

pacman jones will be pushing up daisies shortly at (t)his rate. pretty soon someone is gonna shoot back.

[raoul duke]

dean, Lance Rentzel would have made a fine catholic priest.

[Drew Rosenhorseshit]

I think fine, upstanding, young, gentlemen athletes like Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, Micheal Vick, Clinton Portis, Terrell Owens and Ricky Williams are simply misunderstood and in no way responsible for their actions. Next Question.

[dean]

mr duke,

or a qb on a pop warner team.....

[raoul duke]

dean, Wikapedia is a wonderful resource. It indicated Lance Rentzel had exposed himself to a ten year old girl while he was married to Joey Heatherton(fairly fine looking woman in her day). I was working under impression he had inappropriate sexual relations with young boys(sorry cathlic church my bad). It's truly amazing how twisted, tormented and self-destructive we human beings can be. Anyway, for sake of accuracy, I guess he would have made a better middleschool female gymnastics coach than a catholic priest.

[Horatio Alger]

Jesus Fred what are you like 16 years old?

[William Blake]

Cam should force Fred to give him head till he's dead.

[dean]

r d,

my memory is slipping, too. i thought he ripped opened his london fog trench coat to show a young boy his stuff. oh well, a few too many dead brain cells even if it was a long time ago.

[Flipper72]

We need the full story before I start passing judgement on what happened with Fred Evans in Miami Beach. One thing that the lame ass media failed to elaborate on is why didn't Evans want to get out of the cab?? Hmmmm....sounds very peculiar!!

We all know that cops in Miami can be jerks but I'll bite my tongue before I start going off on all the racist cops!!

AS far as Pacman goes, if Ricky keeps getting suspended for smoking pot and this midget thug keeps getting involved in shooting incidents and still playing (until now)- then the new Commish should cut Ricky a break and let him play this year.

Will it happen....probably not!!

I think it's over for Ricky here in Miami. I think Cam will trade him to the Rams for draft picks.

[Westernfin]

It's all about the bad effects of alcohol, and just exactly what did Ricky Williams ever do to harm or disturb anyone? He doesn't belong on this list or discussion!

[Aloysious McGillicudy]

Fred Evans can also get a job at the University of Miami now. Another honorary Whoreicane. Remember, you can't spell "scum" without "UM".

[r. duke]

Ricky's behavior is not exactly a positive force for any football ream. Your not any good to your team if your habitually suspended for one reason or another. Is he a thug? No not that I can see. I just think he has his head up his ass and is subsequently having difficulty getting oxygen to his brain.

[Sigmund Sometimes it's Only a Cigar Freud]

raoul,"ream" there's a Freudian slip.

[r. duke]

The amazing thing is these athletes supposedly have had time to develop their minds as well as their brawn in a college atmosphere and yet still act like gangsta criminals that never graduated highschool. They really need to develop a curriclum taylored to needs of these highly pampered man-children. It's clear they are ill prepared to assume role of civilized adult. The true sociopaths you'll likely never reach but many of these guys need a class on what it means to be a man in the world. I think most of us can allow for a young person to make mistakes provided they assume responsibility and work in earnest to change their behavior for the better. But when your dealing with dangerous, conscienceless repeat offenders well it's time for them to join the goddamn army and get their asses to Iraq where they can at least throw themsrelves on a grenade and save some American lives.

[Flipper72]

Harhsly put Mr. Duke but very well said.
There was no sugar coating there at all- the truth does tend to hurt the ones that keep screwing up.

Most of these people need an attitude adjustment and your idea of taking a college class that, in the words of Peter Frampton "Shows them the Way"- is a fantastic idea. Let's start with the University of Miami..!!!

[Aloysious McGillicudy]

Flipper72, the University of Miami is a lost cause. They are unredeemable scum.

[Horatio Alger]

Aloysious LOL. I never tire of your unbending hatred for UM.

[Flipper72]

He puked in the cab man!! WOW!!

He must have been hammered big time!

Now I now why the cab driver told him to get out. He must have been embarassed and thats why he didn't want to come out but he made things worse by not going with the flow. HE instead tried to slug the cabbie who then called the cops. LMAO!!

OH Man, I understand it and I am sure we have all puked and one time or another from partying too much but he should have just bailed at least to clean himself up!!

I wonder if he had puke all over him when he was brawling with the cops??

Too bad they didn't have the video cam like they do on that show COPS, so we could all see how boozed up he was. I'm sure he is totally regreting going out on Friday Night.

His anger came from a place of "you are not being cool I just puked....leave me alone"!
I can picture the foreign cabbie making a big deal out of it and telling him to get the f**k out!! I know he has to make a living and this probably ruined his night but he could have been little more sympathetic about it.

The drama with this time has just increased over the years. You would never see any of this crap happening when Shula was coaching.

Freddie, Freddie, Freddie!!

You better have a break out year and get at least 10 sacks this season or else the media will keep reminding us of this incident.

[Flipper72]

You are too much Aloysious!

Unredeemable Scum? LMAO!!!

LOL!! LOL!! LOL!! LOL!! Oh man my side hurts!! LOL! LOOOOLLL!!! LOL!!!

I will never forget that comment.

[Jim Beam]

Flipper72 the image of Evan's puke getting flung all over the police officers is pretty funny. I wonder if cops car was fitted with one of those video cameras to capture the moment.

[jb]

Fred Evans is released. Good move. Go Fins!

[Jimbo]

In the wisdom of Monte Python Mr Freddie "butt plugg" Evans..bring out your dead. Cam is cleaning house. What this comes down to is that the fins want guys who will be there physically and mentally, reliable and accountable. RW will never wear a miami uniform again so forget him. IF he were reinstated today, he would fail another drug test. Move on. In the era of free agency, high salaries and the salary cap, you cannot waste money or a roster spot on screw ups. Pacman is self destructing in front of all of us. He is not man enough to tell the street urchins he hangs with to leave and get a life of their own. He had a golden opportunity for a dream life and is hell bent on blowing it. Maybe now he can fall back on that college degree and find suitable employment. Sad but true some lives are -throw aways- too bad, next!